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Comparison Of Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption

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Redemption is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil, is a theme that is continuous throughout the crime fiction novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” written by Stephen King (Dictionary). Red is a dynamic character in this novella who does not accept being confined by his father in-law, so a result of this is the murdering his wife, neighbor, and neighbor’s infant son at the age of twenty after he fixing his wife’s car breaks which then let out. He is now in confinement yet again, but this time in a physical jail cell of Shawshank. The other main character is Andy Dufresne who is a static character convicted of killing his wife and pro golfer with whom she had an affair with. However, what sets Andy apart from …show more content…

Red is in the Brewster Hotel in Portland and not behind bars anymore, but he still snaps “awake every morning promptly at six-thirty, feeling disoriented and frightened” (King 101). The prison has ingrained being an institutionalized man into Red’s mind. He has horrible nightmares of having a “crazy feeling of free falling” which symbolizes the fact the he is free but it a “terrifying as it is exhilarating “ sensation that still traps him mentally (King 101). Shawshank has taken his life, but the difference between Red in Shawshank and Red now is he realizes prison took his life. This is all thanks to Andy Dufresne, who helped Red with this realization. Red even notes on page 103, “If I had never known Andy,” inferring that without Andy he would not think like this. Red is constantly thinking of Andy “spending all those years chipping patiently away at the cement” with a rock-hammer Red gave him parts to all “so he could be free” (King 103). Chipping at the wall becomes Andy’s occupation and what keeps him going. This goal and aspiration that grew from chipping at the wall began as a game, and what could he lose? But as the years progressed, this game he play continues to become riskier. Hoping that he can escape becomes Andy’s goal. It becomes his goal after the opportunity for a retrial surfaces but nothing ever happens. Red develops a goal too once he is out of Shawshank. He first goes to Buxton on Sunday’s and then looks for rocks just like Andy looks and collects rocks. His occupation becomes to find hope and plays a game with it because what could he lose? There is a hope that Red begins to develop when looking for that rock Andy told him about. And even up until that point when Red finds it and is standing right in front of it, he hesitates to look under it. It is almost as though once he uncovers the rock, his hope will be gone, so that is why he

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